Arthur Grows up
by celder58
Summary: Arthur is now all grown up and begins recalling his memories starting with Sr year of high school.
1. First day of Sr Year

Hey it's me Arthur. You might remember me from your childhood days. Well, you might be wondering what has been happening all this time. Well just like you, I am all grown up now. Well, I won't tell you about my current life just yet. Let me take you back a few years…

It is August 23, 2006. Today is the best day of my life, at least I hope so. It is my first day of Sr. year. Every teenager waits for this day. Sr. year is the best; we get to park in the Sr. lot, we own homecoming, and of course we have prom to look forward to. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves, today is just the first day. I get to drive my family's old car to school. It is not the newest thing, but it works. I have to go pick up Francine. (Arthur and Francine have been dating for a few years)

…..

Francine gets into Arthur's car. Francine has short dark hair. She has baggy jeans, a white t-shirt and a metal necklace.

Arthur: Hey Francine, you ready to go?

Francine: Yeah, I hope we are the first in the Sr. Lot

Arthur and Francine pull into the SR lot of the school. Just as Arthur was about to pull into the last open space of the sr. lot, a yellow mustang pulls in.

Arthur shouts out the window, "Hey, I was just about to park there!" Binky shouts out of the mustang, "First come, first serve." Francine says to Arthur, "some people never change". Arthur then goes down the hill and parks in the Junior lot. Just as Arthur and Francine walk into the school Binky is standing near the door he snarks, "Did you have a good hike?". Arthur just gave Binky the finger. Just then Buster arrives.

"Hey, we are seniors at last!", Buster exclaims. "yeah", replied Arthur. He then proceeds to give Buster a high five.

….

It is now 3rd period. Arthur has an economics class with Mrs. Ratburn (Mr. Ratburn's wife) Just as class was getting started a voice comes over the speaker, "Arthur Read needs to come down to the main office) The other kids in the class were whispering . Buster, who was sitting next to him whispered, "good luck."

Arthur's parents were sitting in the office as well as D.W. and Kate. Arthur's mom had tears in her eyes, Arthur's dad had a long face Kate was crying, and D.W. was trying to consul her.

Arthur's dad said, "we have something to tell you, it is about Grandma"


	2. RIP Grandma Thora Part 1

We pick up where we left off from chapter 1. Arthur was sitting in the office with his family, Arthur's dad (David), was about to give Arthur some bad news.

David: Aunt Sue just called, she said that Grandma is in the hospital; she had a stroke and is not expected to make it another day.

…

The Read family is all surrounding Thora Read. This includes Arthur's mom(Jane), dad(David), D.W. (who is 13 now), Kate (who is 9 now), Aunt Sue, Uncle Fred (David's brother), Sue and Fred's daughter Morgan (who is Arthur's age, 17) Arthur's Aunt Sally (She is Arthur's dad's sister) and her husband Joe. Sally and Joe have twin sons Ben and Brandon, who are 7 years old.

Each of the family members said their last good -byes to Thora.

Arthur: I will miss you Grandma, I will always remember the time you taught me to knit, and all the stories you told me.

DW: I will miss all the games we played

Kate: I will miss playing Magic Mary dolls with me (Magic Mary is similar to Barbie)

…

After a few hours, the Read family decided it was getting late. Aunt Sue decided that she would spend the night at the hospital with Thora. The rest of the family is all at Arthur's house. They all decide to spend the night there. The family spends most of the night reminiscing about Thora.

DW, Kate, Ben and Brandon are in DW and Kate's room while Arthur and Morgan are in Arthur's room.

Kate is holding her old baby doll while DW is sitting next to her on the floor. Ben and Brandon are sitting across from them.

DW: Kate, aren't you a bit big for dolls?

Kate: no, Vicki is my favrorite, besides I remember you still had your Nancydoll last year when you were 12!

DW: yeah, well she was not just Nancy; she was a "Fancy Nancy" doll, which was for big girls like me, not for babies like you! (Fancy Nancy is similar to American Girl)

Ben: DW, I am scared, what will happen to Grandma?

Brandon: yeah mommy said that Grandma is going to die soon

Kate: don't worry, Grandma will go to heaven and be with Jesus

DW: Kate! Don't brainwash our little cousins with that crazy stuff. There is no such thing as heaven!

Kate: Yeah there is!

At this point DW and Kate argue. Eventually Ben and Brandon fall asleep.

…

Meanwhile Arthur and Morgan are in Arthur's room talking.

Morgan: So Arthur how have you been doing?

Arthur: I have been doing fine.

Morgan: how is Francine?

Arthur: Francine! Shit! She was expecting me this afternoon! She must be pissed I was not there to pick her up!

Morgan: Just call her; I am sure she will understand.

Arthur then goes and grabs his cell phone. He has received several texts:

Where are you!

It has been an hour!

Well, I will be at Muffy's

Arthur called, but it went to Francine's voice mail. He left this message, "hi it's me Arthur, please call back, I had a family emergency"

Arthur to Morgan: oh Morgan, now what. What if she never speaks to me?

Morgan: it is ok Arthur, she will understand. Everything will be ok


	3. RIp Grandma Thora Part 1 and a half

Hi, I this is Francine here. I am waiting for Arthur to pick me up. Today is the first day of SR year. Unfortunately, we did not get to park in the Sr lot. I thought that getting to school at 7:15 was early enough, seeing as class does not start until 7:45, but that darn Binky got the last spot. Otherwise, I t was an ok day. Muffy is already talking about homecoming. She is hoping to be homecoming queen this year. I personally am not sure what the big deal is. It is just another dance in the gym. Prom, on the other hand, is something to look forward to. This year sr. prom is going to be in a big hall. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves. That is a whole 8 months away. Now where is that Arthur? It is almost 3. I better text him.

…

That's it! Arthur is never late for anything. It is a good thing Muffy's house is not too far from the school. I will text Muffy to let her know I am coming.

…

Francine is now in Muffy's room. Francine is in tears because she waited an hour for Arthur to pick her up from school.

Muffy: I can't believe he just left you like that. I bet he ran off with Sue Ellen.

Francine: Muffy?! Where did you get that idea from? I am sure that there is a good explanation why he left.

Muffy: Can't you see, men are pigs! One day they are madly in love with you, the next day, someone else has caught their eye.

Francine: Just because it happened to you and Buster, does not mean it will happen to me and Arthur. He told me he loves me.

Muffy: I would not count on that. Buster told me that the day before I saw him making out with Fern. It would be so much easier to be lesbians.

(since this one is short, the next one will come shortly after this one)


	4. RIp Grandma Thora 2

Grandma Thora had passed away the next day. The Read family are preparing for the funeral. I am going to warn you, it is pretty sad, but the rest of the story will get better.

DW: Arthur, why do I have to babysit Kate and the boys?

Arthur: Because I have to practice "Amazing Grace" with Morgan.

DW: ugg, it is like Aunt Lucy's wedding all over again. Everyone is so busy and I don't get to do anything fun.

DW takes Kate, Ben, and Brandon to the park.

DW: ok, everyone does what I say, and if you are good, then I will buy you ice cream.

Kate is carrying around her baby doll.

Ben: Hey, let me see that! I bet she would like to learn how to fly.

Ben pulls the doll from Kate and tosses it to Brandon. Kate runs to Brandon and tries to take the doll back. Kate pulls the doll until it tears and lands in the mud. Kate starts crying.

Kate: No! That was the doll that Gandma gave me when I was a baby.

DW then hugs Kate. DW then remembers something that happened to her when she was playing with the Tibbles.

DW: I have an idea for a game we can all play.

DW then grabbed a hakky sack out of her purse. The kids then begin to toss around the hakky sack around, until it is tossed under a bench. DW then runs over to the bench to pick it up. She then flashes back to when Grandma would sit on the bench while DW and Arthur were playing in the park. She starts to cry.

Kate: DW, I found the ball.

…

It is the day of the funeral. Arthur walks into the funeral home and notices his 14 year old neighbor Brenda, a panda shaped girl. "Hey Brenda, what are you doing here?"Arthur asked. He then noticed that she is holding hands with Buster. Arthur asks, "Buster! what are you doing with Brenda!? She is only a year older then DW!" Buster replied, "I love her". Arthur then said, "That is what you always say". Buster then asks, "Where is Francine?" Arthur replied, "I don't know, can we not talk about Francine right now." Just then Binky arrived and Molly arrived. Arthur asked, "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Binky said, " I will miss your grandma's knitting class." Molly said, "I came because James HAD to be here, and well, I also wanted to be with my Binkums"

DW. was holding hands with Tommy Tibble and talking to Emily, who was holding hands with Timmy Tibble. James walks over. "Hi James", DW noticing James. James replied with a shy "hello".

…

Right after Arthur and Morgan performed "Amazing Grace" the preacher announced, "It is now for anyone to come up and speak." There was silence for a few moments, then DW, Kate, Ben, and Brandon walked up. DW stated, "We have a poem that we wrote"

DW read these lines: Our Grandma, she was there to take us to the park, she went to our plays, she kissed our scraped knees

Kate read these lines: she made clothes for our dolls, she mended our toys

Then the boys read: We love our grandma

Soon, Francine walks in. "Sorry I am late, I had a late shift at the sugar bowl", she whispered.


	5. In Francine's Closet

**This is a short one, but I promise you something big will happen again.**

It is now just a week before homecoming and Muffy is at Francine's house trying to help her pick out something to wear. Francine keeps pulling out an outfit, but Muffy rejects the outfit, soon there is a pile of clothes on the floor. Muffy is annoyed and then asks, "Do you have ANY dresses?" Francine replies, "No, well except this one." Francine then pulls out a long velvet red dress that she had since middle school. Muffy then responds, "Ew, that is so 1999! We need to go to the mall." After several minutes of persuasion, Francine gives in to the idea of going to the mall. Muffy and Francine go into almost every store, when Francine thinks she has had enough and just wants to go home and wear what she has. Muffy then notices the Marcy's. "That place is expensive." Francine states, knowing what is going to happen next. "I can pay for it", Muffy quickly responds. The two girls walk in and go up stairs to the Junior's department. Muffy shows Francine several dresses and Francine responds with , "too fancy, too frilly, too long, too short..." Muffy then picks out a very short black dress. "Muffy!" Francine exclaimed, "That dress will not cover Anything on my figure!" Francine then picks out a button down shirt with blue pants. She tries it on in the fitting room and comes out. Muffy is disgusted. "Ew, that makes you look like Ellen DeGeneres", she states. Francine then asks, "What is wrong with that? I like Ellen." Muffy then exclaims, "That outfit looks makes you like a dyke." Francine then shouts, "Muffy! that was so insensitive, what if Shelby heard that?" Muffy then replies, "Well you are not Shelby. I am tired of helping you!" Francine, who is now irritated, shouts, "Fine! I will buy the outfit my self! You can dress like a slut, but I am going to look decent." Francine proceeds to purchase the outfit, then the two girls drive home quietly.


	6. The New Girl

The Banikin family just moved to Ellwood City. There was Kim, who was married to Jon. Kim and Jon had a 17 year old daughter named Darla, a 13 year old daughter named Daisy, and a 9 year old son named Gordon. The Banikin family is a conservative Christian family. Darla Banikin has long brunet hair, a thin build, and wears nice jeans with flashy shirts. Darla has a secret that we will find out later.

The Ellwood City High kids are standing in front of the school waiting for the bell to ring. Darla walks by Francine, Buster, Arthur, and Brenda.

Buster notices Darla and he immediately notices how attractive she is. "Wow, who is that?" he asks. Arthur replies, "I don't know, I think she is..." just then Darla started speaking, "Hi I am Darla, my family just moved here, does anyone have Mr Webber for first period?" Just then Francine notices Darla, she notices Darla's flawless skin, long hair, and perfect build. Francine hesitates before saying, "I do. I can show you to Mr. Webber's class."

…

At lunch time, Arthur, Francine, Buster and Brenda sit on one side. On the other side sit Muffy's new boyfriend Steve, Muffy, and Darla. While Darla talks about her family, Francine is quieter then she usually is at lunch time. "Then, my dad returns from Iraq. That is how we ended up in Ellwood", Darla states, as she finishes talking about her family. Arthur looks over to Francine, "You ok? you are usually the first to talk to new people." Just as  
Francine was about to speak, Muffy chimes in, "You have a good sense of fashion, that blue shirt brings out your eyes.'

...

At Elm Woods Middle school, Daisy is sitting with D.W. and her friends at lunch. When Daisy finds out that Tommy is D.W.'s boyfriend and Timmy is Emily's boyfriend she asks, "Wait, you guys are all going out?" Daisy asks. "My parents won't let me date until I am 16." DW responds, "well, we don't actually date, we just you know, "go out".

...

At Lakewood Elementary school, Kate, Mei-Lin, and Gordon are sitting at a table. Kate asks, "Hey, would you like to work with me and Mei-Lin on our science fair project." "Sure", said Gordon. "What are you working on?", he asked. Mei Lin replied, "We want to know what brand of bread gets moldy first."

...

After school, Buster and Arthur are chatting on Facebook.

Buster: I really like Darla

Arthur: You say that with every new girl you see

Buster: Yeah, but Darla is really hot!

Arthur: yeah, I know, but what about Brenda? You can't chase after every girl you see.

Buster: I don't chase after EVERY girl

Arthur: you even went after Shelby. We both know what a disaster that was.

a/n i know this one was a lot, but later I will check in on the younger kids. For more information on Brenda, pleas read "I have two dads". For more information on Shelby, please keep reading, you will find out soon.


	7. Who Is Shelby anyways?

So I have mentioned Shelby two times so far and I have not elaborated on her yet. Well you get to meet her, and some things happen just before homecoming. We start with the night after the Banikin family moves to Ellwood City. Muffy and Fancine are chatting on Facebook chat.

Francine: Hey, I really like Darla

Muffy: yeah, she has some good fashion sense, unlike someone I know; I am surprised she even noticed you

Francine: What would you do if I told you I liked girls?

Muffy: I would still be your friend, but that would be so weird.

Francine: Why would it be so weird?

Muffy: Because, … you know, it just would be

Francine: What I am trying to say, is I think I… you know LIKE Darla

Muffy: lol, I guess you must be going through the "am I bi phase"

Francine: yeah, sure

As far as Muffy knows, Francine is going through a phase. But deep down, Francine has always questioned her sexual orientation. She has looked at girls and noticed their figures. There has been a few girls that made her heart skip when they walked by, but she repressed those feelings. She was not always sure of her feelings of Arthur. She started dating Arthur in 10th grade; she forgot why she started dating him until now. Arthur was interested in her for some time, and a combination of peer pressure, and possible feelings of guilt had leaded her to believe that she should date him. She never had a boyfriend before, mostly because she was never interested and was too oblivious to boys flirting with her, even in 8th grade when Buster was blunt about it. She was too wrapped up in sports and other activities to notice. Even Muffy mentioned, "If you don't date a guy soon, people are going to think that you are a lesbian." See the thing with Muffy is that, although she is accepting, she is still a bit creped out by homosexuality. Francine decided to ask for advice from someone who has more experience with these types of feelings. She decided to ask her friend Shelby.

At lunch Francine asked, "Shelby, can I talk to you about something?" "What's up?" Shelby asked. Francine replied, "How did you know you were a lesbian?" Shelby then started with a story, "When I came to Ellwood City in the 7th grade, I was worried about fitting in, just like any other 7th grader. Then I met Buster. He had started hitting on me and it felt weird. At first I just went with it, and then I had noticed this girl Allana. I had two choices, I could put up with Buster, or I could risk being bullied and stay true to myself and my feelings. I am glad I have a supportive sister, because who knows what mess I would have been in if I dated Buster." Francine asked, "Then what, did you get bullied?" "Yes, I did. Buster was teased for hitting on a lesbian, and well I was teased just because I was a lesbian. I was called every name you can think of, but I soon got over it and I learned to stay true to myself. I joined the LBGT alliance group when I started 9th grade and I found a group of supportive friends. And of course I met you and your friends. And I am happy with Haily."


	8. Heartbroken

It was Friday night and Arthur was doing his economics homework when D.W. walked in crying. "D.W. what's wrong?" Arthur asked. "Tommy dumped me" D.W. answered. "He said that I was fat and ugly in front of the whole school!" she wailed. She then went upstairs to her and Kate's room.

Buster was with Arthur. They wanted to get their homework done so they had more time go get ready for the dance. Buster asked, "What's with her?" Arthur replied, "13 year old drama. "So are you still going with Brenda?" Arthur asked Buster. Buster replied, "No, I am going to try to get a dance with Darla. Are you still going with Francine?" "Of course, we have been dating for 2 years. Nothing will come between us, Arthur replied."

Just then Arthur's cell phone rang. It was Francine. "Hi Arthur, I have something to tell you." Arthur then asked, "Are you still going to the dance?" Francine responded, "That is what I called you about, I am breaking up with you." Arthur responded, "What, why?" Francine replied, " look Arthur, I like you as a friend, but but I don't love you. Besides, I think I love someone else." "Who", Arthur asked. "I can't tell you right now", Francine replied. Arthur hung up the phone. "I can't believe that she just dumped me like that. After two years, just before the dance", Arthur said to Buster.

Arthur and Buster decided to just go to the dance. Arthur already had a ticket and was hoping that maybe he would get a dance with someone. Buster still had his hopes up for Darla.

A/n I know this one is short, but it is just an opening to the homecoming drama.


	9. Homecomming

It was the night of the homecoming dance. Arthur and Buster had arrived in the school gym. Buster set off to look for Darla. Arthur went out to look for someone to dance with It seemed that everyone had a date. Binky had Molly, Muffy had Steve, and Fern had some guy named Gregory. Even the nerds had dates. Allen (people stopped calling him Brain a long time ago) had Lydia (she was in The Wheel Deal) George had a girl named Tina, and even Carl had a girl named Casey. Just then Arthur tripped over a balloon that was on the floor. He knocked into Molly. "Hey get off my girlfriend!" Binky reacted. Just when Arthur thought about leaving, a girl dressed in a long beautiful blue dress came over.

"Hi Arthur, you look nice." He then realized who it was. "Hi Sue Ellen, you look nice too." Until then, he had not realized how pretty she was. At that point Buster had found some sophomore to talk to. Arthur and Sue Ellen danced some. At the end of a slow dance, Sue Ellen had said to Arthur, "I have something I always wanted to tell you."

...

Buster was searching for Darla. He met noticed Darla hanging out with Francine, Muffy, and Steve. "Hi Darla", he said. Darla said hi, but she did not seem to notice Buster much. Buster then noticed a good looking 10th grader. "Hi, I am Buster", he introduced himself. "Marie", the girl responded. Buster and Marie start dancing together. Vincent, Brenda's brother, came over. "Hey, I have some words for you! Vincent exclaimed. "You broke my sister's heart!" Buster said, "So?" "I should have warned her about you! I thought she was safe because she is so young. You are going to have it!"

...

Darla, Francine, Muffy, and Steve were all hanging out. Shortly after a few dances, Francine and Darla chat while Muffy and Steve dance close. "Mrs. New Booty" came on and Francine and Darla start grinding. Then a slow song come on. For a short moment, Francine and Darla stare at each other. Then they start slow dancing. When the song was over, they stare at each other again and try to figure out what to say next.

Just then the art teacher had come on the stage. "It is now to announce the homecoming queen and king." Muffy knew that she was going to be homecoming queen. She anxiously waited for the results.


End file.
